I drove out to Algonquin this afternoon to go to the Grand Opening of a new Galyans. Now, we've got a Galyans in Schaumburg that we go to often, and the Schaumburg one is a lot bigger than this new one in Algonquin, but I drove out here not to shop but to see someone. I went to see America's Favorite "Pirate" - Rupert Boneham.
The line to meet him was enormous and really net letting up, so there was no way I was going to meet him personally. I sort of camped-out by his table, taking pictures, which allowed me to listen to him interact with everyone and get a good idea of his character.
When I watched Survivor Pearl Islands and Survivor All Stars as well as the America's Tribal Council, that I liked Rupert. He seemed real. He seamed to care, he seemed "honest", and he truly seemed to enjoy his time in the show.
I was wrong.
He is double and maybe even triple what I thought.
He was engaging. He took time with every single person going through that line. He made sure he shook their hands. He made direct eye contact. He talked to them by name. He thanked every single person for coming out. When he talked about his time in the game, it was as if he just got off the island yesterday, speaking about details that you know he feels in his heart. He speaks well of some people (Like Sandra, the Pearl Islands winner, and Rudy) and he still talks about issues he had with a certain Mr. Fairplay.
The way he treats kids is wonderful and magic, working hard to win their hearts if they weren't already won before stepping forward to the show's only legitimate Pirate.
I watched a handler briefly talk to him, talking about that people may have been upset about the amount of time he was spending with people in line. It's obvious that those weren't the people at the front of the line who were meeting him, for each and every one of them just soaked-up his energy and everyone walked away with a smile.
I can't say anything bad about the guy. He is real.
2008
2006- Damn it.. .no keyboard.. no mouse...
- Rovers from Space
2003- Survivor: Pearl Islands - Episode 4
- Colors
2002- Amazing Race 3 - Episode 2
- Electric man
- BAD, INDY! BAD!